I Have a Wanted Poster in My Pocket
by Lady Bluesummers
Summary: A bounty hunter (Andrea) falls in love with Vash, not realizing who he really is until too late. After so long gone, author's note. Thank you.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun. There. I said it. Can we get on with this? PLEAAASE?  
  
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I Have a Wanted Poster In My Pocket  
  
Chapter One: Strange Man  
  
**************  
  
A young girl of about thirteen wandered across the barren wasteland of Gunsmoke.  
  
"Why must I travel across this godforsaken piece of crap?"  
  
~~~~~  
  
She stood in the rare shade of a large outcropping of rock riddled with cracks and lines of age.  
  
"Is this what my life is? A large worn rock that is buring with fury outside but without emotion on the inside?"  
  
~~~~~  
  
Andrea's face was suddenly tickled with her hair that was blown by a soft breeze. A bit of sand caught in her throat and she began to cough.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Oh...damn...this really..sucks..." a sudden pain wracked her body and leaning against the huge rock, slid down it and buckled her knees to her chest, rocking slowly back and forth in immense pain.  
  
She wanted to, but Andrea could not cry out. She felt as though opoun opening her mouth, all of her insides would spill out and the whole process would painfully take her life. She wanted to die, but not like that. No way.   
  
The pain grew so much however, that her body suddenly shut down completely. Andrea lay completely silent underneath the shade of the rock, covered by a single thin cloth that had been blown by the now harsh wind over her still body.   
  
As the typhoon raged on, her body was covered in sand. It was likely that if she was still alive, she would not remain so for much longer.   
  
~~~~~  
  
About a day later, all that could be seen of her was her head, which had been buried for only a short time and then uncovered again by the winds that not so long ago, almost took her life if she had been buried for too long.  
  
Andrea awoke to the twin suns being blocked out by what looked like the shape of a man. She squinted. The rock was no longer shady on this side. A rough hand gently dug the sands as best as possible to help in the process of freeing Andrea.  
  
Once enough of the shifting sands had been cleared, the man carefully pulled her out. He slowly put her over his shoulder and layed the cloth over them both to prevent sunburn. Andrea lifted her head.  
  
"Where?"  
  
"Sshhh..its ok. You'll get cold water and new clothes and a good home soon, don't worry."  
  
The man began to sing a lullaby.  
  
Funny as the whole situation was, Andrea calmed down and relaxed with the rythmic step of the man's walk.   
  
"Is this how father and daughter were?" a quick and quiet thought flickered across Andrea's mind, but slowly fluttered away with the presence of a life-healing sleep, which quickly hooded her eyes and let her truly relax in the man's arms.  
  
********  
  
A/N: Well. There. My first Trigun fic. Hope you like. ^^ *puts on her flame-proof suit* BRING IT ON FLAME THROWERS, BRING-IT-ON!! 8D Please review!! Tankiez. 


	2. Evesdropping News

Disclaimer: Nope. Still don't own any Trigunness here or any other weird freakish copyrighted media that might happen to be mentioned here.  
  
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I Have a Wanted Poster In My Pocket  
  
Chapter Two: Evesdropping News  
  
**************  
  
In our last short chapter, Andrea is thirteen and homeless, wandering around Gunsmoke.   
  
Some guy comes to rescue her...or something. o_O;  
  
As the story goes, Andrea grows up amidst a group of bounty hunters. She was trained, and with enough patience, perserverence, and strength, she became an official bounty hunter. She wasn't half bad at it either.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Andrea stood outside her "father's" office door. She could see the dark outlines of two men, one sitting at a desk, the other standing, and arguing.  
  
"I don't want to put her through that! That man's an idiot." her father said firmly.  
  
The second man pounded his fist on the desk. Or at least of what she could hear. "I don't care! She's capable enough and I know she doesn't go for looks! She's going after that--"  
  
The second man was cut short. Her father roared with outrage. "HAVE YOU SEEN WHO ELSE GOES AFTER HIM?! SHE COULD BE KILLED IN THE PROCESS! I HAVE NO DOUBT SHE IS AN AMAZING BOUNTY HUNTER, BUT I AM NOT GONNA LET HER GO ON A SUICIDE MISSION! I WON'T HEAR OF IT!!" this time her father's fist crashed down onto the wooden desk. The second man shook his head.   
  
"I know," he said softly. "I admire her to. I'd hate to loose such a nice girl. Full of much potential and grace. But we have to do this. Its already been decided." he sighed.  
  
"Fine." her father suddenly sounded exhausted. "I'll let her go. But if she doesn't come back, mind you, I'll have something loud and hard to say about it, and you'll get most of the fury."  
  
The second man cleared his throat and shuffled some papers, getting ready to leave. "I'm terribly sorry if anything happens. You know it wasn't my place to put in any vote whether she left for him or not."  
  
"I know. I apoligize. You may leave."  
  
"The second man started towards the door. Andrea quickly darted down the hall and turned a right towards the exit.   
  
While walking down the hallway and pondering the conversation over and over through her brains, a sudden thought struck her head like lighting.  
  
"Him?"  
  
She began to run.  
  
"Are they talking about--no...but...he said idiot..that means..." Andrea skidded to a sudden hault, being jerked back to reality by running heavily into the door.  
  
She rubbed her head. "Vash. Hmmm...what was he like again?"  
  
~~~~~  
  
The rest of the day was boring. Her father kept avoiding her, but was much more tender if she made a mistake on her chores. She knew why. What Andrea didn't understand was why her father was that worried. Well yeah, it practicly explains itself in the very price on the Typhoon's head, but what about the strong rumours of him refusing to kill anyone? It was time to confront her father.  
  
--*Andrea is sitting in a chair in front of her father's desk, waiting for his return.*--  
  
"Hope this goes well," she sighed, impatiently drumming her fingers across the wooden surface.  
  
"And if its going to be horrible, I'd appriciate him to at least make it quick. The suspense is killing me."  
  
"Can I help you?"  
  
A sudden voice made Andrea jump about ten feet in the air. "Wha-? Dad?! I didn't...."  
  
Matthew Fariante crossed the threshold and the floor of his office and sat at the desk. "You wanted to talk Andrea? It seems you have something on your mind." he leaned back and steepled his fingers, and put his feet up on his own desk.  
  
"I...I heard you...well..." Andrea scratched her head nervously. "I heard about my next job. Its...the Humanoid Typhoon."  
  
If Fariante had been drinking his usuall coffee, Andrea would've been dripping with it.  
  
"H-how?! When?!" he leaned swung his feet off the desktop, almost falling out of his chair in shock.  
  
"Evesdropping, sir."  
  
"..."  
  
"When Mr. Nathan came and I was outside cleaning. I took a break and overheard, and I guess I chose to keep hearing."  
  
Her father blinked. "That settles it. I've told you many times not to do that."  
  
"You know I was waiting outside anyway." she said quietly.  
  
Fariante blinked again. "Yes, yes I know. I'm sorry. I've been acting strange lately because of your job. And not because of Mr. Vash himself, but if you must go after him, you'll run into the many others going for his head. Its not the query I'm worried about, Andrea."  
  
It was Andrea's turn to blink. At a loss for words, she looked around the room. The ceiling fan gave off a nice breeze, but always got her sick when she stared at it for more than a few seconds. She looked down at her feet.  
  
"So...when do I..."  
  
"Tomorrow."  
  
"WHAT?! WHEN WERE YOU PLANNING TO TELL ME?!" Andrea jumped up suddenly frantic. This suprised Fariante.  
  
"In about an hour, actually, but you saved me the guilt." he smiled a weak smile, though it had the light of sincerity flickering across it. "Now go get ready, you finally leave home for your first real large bounty. You've had many successes, quite a few failiures however. I want to tell you that either way I'm proud of you for er...not losing your head." he laughed.  
  
Andrea smiled and relaxed a little. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all. "Thanks. I'll be getting ready now. May I have your leave?"  
  
"You don't have to ask ME that, just everyone else or unless someone's around us in earshot. I already know I have your respect, Andrea. But yes, you may go." he folded his fingers and rested his chin on his hands as Andrea went out.  
  
"Sorry for overeacting."  
  
"S'ok. I don't mind."  
  
IT GETS BETTER. o_o; Much better. Muuuch muuuch better. And longer. A looot loooot longer. XD  
  
But if you want funny look at my other story, "A Really Messed Up Date." PG-13 for occasional cussing. I censored it in the first chapter...yeah. But anyone who reads it will know anyway since I let a letter in. Must be truthful with ratings!! And thanks for the reviews, anyone who wrote them! My eternal thanks and grattitude.  
  
^_^  
  
Want to contact me? Just click on my pen name thing, or if you don't wanna bother with that, my e-mail is below.  
  
zerogarnet@tenchiclub.com 


	3. A Stranger In Sheep's Clothing

Disclaimer: I dun own Trigun! Wish I did though. ~_^;  
  
On the very first spoken thing there is a reference to an old song alot of you younger people might not have heard of. o_o  
  
The correct lyrics in that section are "On the road to California way back where I started from..." I don't own this song either, to let you know.  
  
A/N: Promise it won't be so boring forever. Just extremely long. Honestly though, I think my other story is much better than this, but I wanna continue this story because if I don't write after two days, it nags at my brain like a book report due in three days. Have fun reading!!  
  
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I Have a Wanted Poster In My Pocket  
  
Chapter Three: A Stranger In Sheep's Clothing  
  
(I have no earthly idea what this title really means. o.o;)  
  
**************  
  
Our last chapter has Andrea finding out about having to go after Vash as her new assignment. Andrea and her father talk about it and stuff, and he decides to cool off a bit and trust his daughter that she can live through this.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Ooon the road to July City way back where I started from..." Andrea sang happily through the dust that blew into her face as she drove down the desert road towards New July City, built almost on top of the ruins of the original July City.  
  
It was high noon when she reached the town, and extremely hot, so she decided to go into the saloon for a drink. Her father had let her drink at a young age, but as a strict rule he only allowed her one or two shots of rather weak whiskey. Today she walked in and ordered some stuff that was alot stronger, but her system could handle it. Andrea grew up with the mentality that getting drunk was the most disgusting crime to humanity.   
  
" 'Ere ya go, missy." the rough-looking barkeep said as he slid her drink down the polished wooden surface of the bar.  
  
"Uh..thanks." Andrea shifted position on her stool and poured a little of the liquid into her glass. After pouring in her preferred amount, she picked up the shot glass and started to put it to her lips, when the swinging doors to the saloon were slammed open and a forlorn-looking and very bedraggled stranger staggered in. Andrea put her glass down and turned the stool to get a better look at his face.   
  
"Whoa." she thought.  
  
Blonde hair covered in desert dust shrouded the stranger's eyes, but everything below showed a slightly emotionless and tired expression, as if he had been living for over fifty years; the whole being of his face was that of a man who had lived many long years and was now tired of the world and humanity's ways. What suprised Andrea most, however, was that it was a younger man, maybe in his late twenty's.   
  
Lost in thought, Andrea did not notice the man look up at her until too late. She blushed for being rude and turned back to her drink. Suddenly she did not feel like drinking, however. Andrea put her elbows on the bar and rested her head on her hands, compelled to think.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Hello, excuse me, Miss?!"  
  
A voice from the distance reached out and roughly pulled Andrea back to reality with a crash. "Wha--?"  
  
Her head slipped down off her hands and banged on the bar.  
  
THUD.  
  
"OW!"  
  
"Um Miss, hello?"  
  
Andrea looked around, rubbing her forehead. "Huh? What? Oh hello." Andrea looked to see who was talking to her, and saw the man that had so brought out her curiosity. She could see his eyes now. They seemed to be a little happier and the blonde hair was pushed back to show them. "Uhh...is there anything I can do for you sir?" She knew he was definitly older than she was.  
  
The man sat next to her, the large brown cloth that doubled for a cloak slid back a little and revealed a bright red underneath. He quickly folded it back and covered up the red. Andrea kept it to herself.   
  
"Well it looked to me like you had a glazed look in your eyes. I was hoping you weren't drunk or anything." he shook his hair that kept falling in front of his eyes.Andrea noticed a silver loop earring on his left ear.  
  
"Oh, I haven't been here long. Haven't had anything to drink either come to that, even though I've already ordered it and its sitting right in front of me." Andrea looked at the man, showing more interest on her face than she meant to.  
  
"That's good! Now, what's a nice polite girl like you doing here?" he seemed to show a bit of interest as well.  
  
"Oh, nothing really," she said kind of offhand. Then Andrea's eyes shifted a bit and she leaned close. "I'm a bounty hunter," she whispered. The man's face flickered for a moment and went out. Andrea didn't notice. "O-on who? Who are you after?" the man looked slightly uncomfortable. Andrea leaned back into her original position again. "I'm not completely free yet. I work with the Matthew & Co. Society, and my dad's the son of the founder of this group of bounty hunters. My latest assignment is Vash the Stampede--" at this the man started, and this time Andrea noticed but it quickly left her mind.   
  
"Sir, are you sure you're ok? If you need some extra money, which it looks like you do, I've got quite a few extra double dollars I can lend. And don't bother paying back, cause in about eight month's time I'll have at least sixty billion." she laughed. The man put his head to his hand. "Thanks miss but I think I'll be fi--" the man's face paled and he fell sideways.  
  
"ACK!" Andrea caught him and with an effort pulled him back up. He seemed to be sick from being out in the sun for so long. "Must be this damned heat." she thought, and after taking a swig of her drink and paying, dragged the man out of the saloon and pulled him up onto her car and drove towards the hotel she was staying at and put him to bed.  
  
"Good lord this man's heavy, no wonder he got sick!" Andrea collapsed into her chair next to her bed where the man was sleeping. The afternoon sun heated the room and she difted off to sleep from the thick heat and didn't notice someone picking her up and setting her down in the bed and quietly shut the bedroom door.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Ooooooo I like this chapter. Um...more than the others. And gee, I bet you can guess who that mystery dude is, I mean, its pretty obvious. Anycheese, pleaaaaaaaaaaaase review. Pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase! Or you will face the wrath of my explosive twinkies of death!! MWAHAHAHA!! 


	4. Bubbles

Disclaimer: Don't own Trigun! *sobs* Nor do I own the group "They Might Be Giants".  
  
A/N: THANKYOU reviewers! You shall NOT face the bloody wrath of my explosive twinkies of death! ^^; I've been grounded, so I tried to write this soon before my parents got home. . I won't finish of course...  
  
NOTICE: I think its weird chapter syndrome. This chapter and the latest of my other story are EXTREMELY strange. Except this one's long. This chapter is a bit longer than alot of the other chapters of anything I've written, so SUPRISE!! MWAHAHAHA!!  
  
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I Have a Wanted Poster In My Pocket  
  
Chapter Four: Bubbles  
  
**************  
  
Last chapter: Andrea meets a dust-worn, blonde, young man in a pub at New July. She takes him to her room after he passes out from dehydration and the intense heat. He "leaves." This chapter shows Andrea's freaked-out, panic, spazing side.   
  
~~~~~  
  
"Pleaaase pass the chilled apple dear...I've got a headache..."  
  
Fifteen minutes later...  
  
"Youuuuuuuu love meeeee deaaaaaressst...."  
  
Andrea's sleeptalking had always made her siblings and cousins or anyone who had slept in the same room with her think she was nothing short of possessed. However her mind was completely capable and fully functional...most of the time.  
  
Vash poked Andrea's shoulder.  
  
(K from now on, I'll call him Vash...since I'm sick of saying "the blonde guy", all right? Take note that Andrea doesn't know he's Vash...yet...mwahahahaha!)  
  
He had decided to check on her. That girl didn't seem to look well when she was sleeping, and her talking sounded like something you'd hear from a They Might Be Giants album. More or less.  
  
Andrea shuddered and rolled off the bed, waking her through the pain of falling onto a splintery wooden floor.  
  
"ACK!" she sat up and rubbed her head, acting six years less than her age.   
  
"What the hell was that? I was dreaming about trees and..." Andrea noticed Vash and stood up quickly. "DAMN!!"  
  
"Hello!" he said cheerfully.  
  
"What are you doing in my room?!"  
  
"Honestly, I don't remember correctly, miss."  
  
"Well DUH! You passed out and I dragged you here and put you in my...bed..." she broke off finishing the last few words very slowly as her brain processed the pieces together. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"  
  
"AAAAHHHHHHH!" Vash fell backwards in his chair. "W-what did I do?"  
  
"You...you put me in my bed! BLEEEAAHHHHHH!!" Andrea started rubbing herself against the wall.  
  
"AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW YOU'RE NAME! NOOOOO!!" she sprinted out the door leaving Vash there in total and complete bewilderment.  
  
~~~~~  
  
*Two days later.*  
  
"Bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh."   
  
Continuous thuds were heard in the pub as Andrea banged her head repeatedly on the bar.  
  
"No leads after two days and I can't get rid of that...stupid...person...man...thing..."  
  
THUD.  
  
"What'll it be?"  
  
"Haven't seen you before."  
  
"I'm the new bartender. So, are you gonna order something or not?" the young man's tone wasn't hostile.  
  
THUD.  
  
"Uhhh...just some water please. And a teabag. A strong teabag, if you don't mind."  
  
THUD.  
  
"Yes ma'am."  
  
THUD.  
  
The doors to the pub swung open again, but Andrea didn't look up. She head someone sitting next to her.  
  
THUD.  
  
"I don't think that's very good for you." it was that man again; Vash.  
  
THU--  
  
"HEY! I told you not to follow me around anymore! I could arrest you, you know. I have that authority."  
  
Vash blinked and laughed weakly. "N-nah, no that's fine. Really, I just...like you. YEAH that's it! Yeah yeah, I like you."  
  
Andrea inched away. "Can't say its good that you're not drunk. So, mister, you've been tagging along side me for two days and disrupting my work, and I don't even know you're name yet. You could at least tell me. Anyway, you do look really familliar, but I can't seem to put my finger on it." her sudden and powerful intrigue that was her nature overrid her irritation. Andrea's face was thoughtful.   
  
Vash blinked again, and the perspireation showed underneath his blonde hair. "Its...A-Alex, Alex Saverem. Just call me Alex." he smiled. "Well ok er...Alex. Would you please not follow me? There's been a rumor that Vash the Stampede is still in this town and I don't need people tagging along with me while I follow the trace and search around. It looks to me like you know what an amature's danger is. That's a nasty scar on your neck. But please, Alex, I work better alone." Andrea's drink arrived and she seized a spoon and stirred the teabag around a bit, let it steep, and stirred a little more. 'Alex' pulled his white shirt's collar closer around his neck. Andrea was lost in thought again, drained the huge glass of hot tea quickly, and stood. "I have to get back to my searching, and I've gotten very crappy results. Mainly because of you." she said it with a forced-back grin. "But wait, I--" but before Vash could finish, Andrea turned on her heel and went out of the pub, and down the street.  
  
~~~~~  
  
*Five hours later*  
  
"Stay AWAY Alex! I'm warning you! I've got a...well, I don't have a gun...but I've got twelve throwing knives and I'm not afraid to use them!!"  
  
Andrea stood in the alleyway ready to throw back her cloak and chuck her knives at Vash's figure standing ten feet away.   
  
He had his hands up. "I was just standing here, that's all!!" his voice had an innocent tone to it like that of a child's. Andrea relaxed a little and sighed exasperatedly.  
  
"Those damn leads were useless, I guess. They say they saw a blonde with a red coat go down this street and this is the only alleyway. I turn the corner, expecting to find the famous Humanoid Typhoon and I find...wait...I'll give you...three guesses!!" Andrea's voice was icy cold and sarcastic. The breeze whispered into the alley and a piece of red cloth in the dumpster behind Vash fluttered in the wind. "I'm sorry then, lady, if you think I'm following you then that's just--"  
  
"Sick. I'm sorry too. I'm normally nice to people but today the heat is worse than hell's fires and your just annoying with your stupid perpetual love for donuts and that you fully live up to the dumb blonde standards. Now, let me have a talk with you about something called personal spaaaaaace. AKA, bubbles."   
  
Andrea led Vash to a park bench on the other end of the alley in the square and sat him down. She stood up in front with a military and businesslike air to every one of her actions.  
  
"Listen, I have a job to do. I doubt you do, because I see you all over town in every donut or pastry stand wasting that money I gave you."  
  
The twin suns were setting.  
  
"Everyone has their own personal space. Which is, if someone follows them around all the time; bugging them, talking to them, in a nutshell, annoying the living hell out of them! In your terms, its called a 'bubble'. You got it so far?"  
  
Vash nodded, acting like a kid again.  
  
"Ooo-k," she continued, "Now if I need my own time alone to work and concentrate, I don't need someone bugging me. Yes, you can talk to me once in a while but seriously Alex, even if you do really like me, I want to get my job done so I can go home. I've traveled through ten towns in three months. That's driving all day for several days straight and stopping only three very short times in two days. I've finally got an awsome lead and even if I fail, I want to know that I did my job correctly. You might not ever understand. Just please, let me work and be done, and just...just leave me and my comfort zone, bubble, personal space, whatever you call it, alone."  
  
Andrea took a deep breath. Vash's face looked slightly hurt. Andrea went over and patted his head. "There there, Mr. Saverem. But this task is something only the ones who do it can understand. So I'll be a little nicer from now on, ok?" she turned to walk away, the suns just about to completely disappear over the horizon. All of the sudden, Vash tackled Andrea's legs, but she managed to keep her balance. "ALEX!"  
  
"You're so...so kind!" then he stopped clinging to Andrea's lower legs and stood up. He looked at Andrea with those eyes that looked so old. It was a silent awkward moment. Suddenly Vash yelled out "LOVE AND PEACE!!" It suprised Andrea so badly that she screamed and fell backwards onto her backside. If you had seen her face after she fell, it would have looked something like this:  
  
@_#;  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
THE END! Not really. Just the end to this very strange chapter. And will I ruin it for you if I said that Andrea starts kind of really really liking Vash and then right before she tells him how she feels, she finds out he's...Vash? OOPS. Hehehe sorry bout that. And one more thing, the Priesty Dude (Wolfwood) is in the next chapter, or the one after it! WHOO. I ish glad to see people enjoying what I write. It makes me feel SPECIAL. ~_^ 


	5. Enter Wolfwood! The Hunter's Confessions

Disclaimer: YES I DO own Trigun! And the grass is red, the ocean is thin yogurt, and the sun is just God's giant flashlight He dropped in His closet and forgot to turn off.  
  
-_-;  
  
***********  
  
Chapter Five: Enter Wolfwood! The Hunter's Confessions  
  
The last chapter, Andrea and Vash have a talk about personal space. o_O;  
  
********  
  
If Andrea hadn't been so stressed out with all the random breakouts, thefts, murders, massacres, and explosions that went on in New July, and with 'Alex', she would have noticed an odd pattern forming. Every time she came very close to finding the Humanoid Typhoon, Alex would somehow end up at the end of her trail or would at least screw something up. And if Andrea had been describing the whole thing in detail to a close friend, it would have become increasingly obvious who and where Vash the Stampede really was.   
  
Luckily--or not--Andrea kept everything to herself. New July was still...new, and supplies were hard to find and very expensive to buy. She wrote a quick letter to her father explaining that she would not be writting for a while due to lack of paper in the town and that she was simply conserving it for her extensive paperwork. Alex didn't seem as uptight about everything, except when any comment of Vash the Stampede or her good progress in work was mentioned.  
  
"Huh? What red coat?!"  
  
*****  
  
Sunday rolled around. Andrea's father Matthew wrote to her just to ask her if she had ever decided to go to church. Andrea never really considered it, but she wrote back on a scrap piece that she would go the next week. Vash wasn't too exited, but Andrea threatened him to come along "or else". Trouble seemed to follow that man around alot, and she needed to keep a good eye on him.  
  
--SUNDAY MORNING; 10:00 AM.--  
  
"Hurry up, or we'll be late!!"  
  
"Its not my fault your stupid daggers ended up in the wash and tore all my stuff!!"  
  
"Oh yes it is. I SAW you putting my good THROWING KNIVES into the washing bin yesterday! Don't you dare try to weasel out of a lecture."  
  
"Awwww."  
  
"Busted. Heheh. Now MOVE."   
  
Andrea shoved Vash out the door. "March, Saverem."  
  
"I'm not in your stupid bootcamp!"  
  
"I don't care! You live your life without caring about anything. Its time you learn something about responsibility and discipline."  
  
"Fine."  
  
They finally got to the small church. Vash was a little uneasy so his clumsiness and loud nature were amplified several times. Andrea by now, though, had learned to tune it out subconciously. They walked in, and Andrea took off her hat and traveling cloak and hung them on one of the many coatracks near the doors. She noticed a huge cross in cloth and belts leaning on the right side next to one of the racks. "Hmm...that's odd. Oh well, its a church. Probably some new wooden cross to put above the pulpit or something and its still wrapped up in the packaging. Whatever." Andrea walked into the main area with the wooden pews lined up in two sections; one on the right, and one on the left. Vash hung back, staring at it. He mouthed wordlessly. Andrea noticed he wasn't following. "Come on, Alex." she pulled him to the left side and sat somewhere in one of the middle rows next to a man in all black. Vash simply refused to sit next to Andrea.   
  
"Nope. N-not gonna sit there. No way no how. You aren't going to make me." he folded his arms and sat in the middle walkway crosslegged. Andrea sighed. "Whatever," she said. "Have it your way. I'm not complaining."   
  
Vash looked sad. "Ouch." he said. "That was cold. Real cold, lady."  
  
--An hour later.--  
  
The service let out. Andrea hung back to ask the preacher if she could borrow a bible for a while. The man in black stayed as well, and looked periodicly over at Vash. Vash himself was making little squeaky noises, twitching, and clinging to the side of the pew.  
  
Andrea came out of the preacher's office, looking more serene than she had been since she had left her fathers'.  
  
"Well come on, Alex, let's go." she started to make her way up the isle.  
  
"So THAT'S what you call him."  
  
"Huh?" Andrea looked over to see who spoke. It was the man in black, holding the huge cross over his shoulder.  
  
"Wha...." Vash tried to make a break for it but Andrea automaticly pulled his collar back.  
  
"ACK! Hey, what's the idea? Can't you see I want to leave?" Vash struggled with his shirt collar in vain against Andrea's iron grip.  
  
She ignored Vash. "Are you new in town? Haven't I seen you before?"  
  
Wolfwood sighed, and looked at Vash. "I've been following this guy around for quite a while and he lost me, and I've been looking for him even since. Isn't that right, VASH?"  
  
"Alex" turned pale. :"Awww, shut up, NICKIE. Stop kidding around. Just because I look like the famous outlaw, doesn't mean I am all that good-looking."  
  
Andrea rolled her eyes. Wolfwood luckily got a slight hint, and played along a little. "Nice to see you again then, Needle Nogin." he turned to Andrea. "I see life has been a little hard on you. You really should hide those throwing knives and pistol better, though. But if you're carrying weapons, I'm sure you've used them. There is pain behind your smile. Would you like to talk about it?" It took Andrea more off guard than he expected. She really thought he was serious, and had an expression between bewilderment and utter confusion. "Well first sir, I'd like to know you're name. Out of curiosity, if I go any farther in greetings."  
  
Vash shook his head and tried once more to be free of Andrea's collar-hold. He slumped down into the pew in despair. It made Wolfwood laugh. He held out his hand. "My name is Nicholas D. Wolfwood. A traveling priest who helps out the orphanage not too far from December. And you?"  
  
He seemed nice enough, if not a little strange.  
  
She shook Nick's hand. "Mine is Andrea Fariante. My father is Matthew Fariante, head of the..." she explained her job in the town. Vash looked up pleadingly at Nick, and the light of an epifany lit his face for a moment. "Your seventeen, are you? And already a bounty hunter. That's too young to be involved in killing."  
  
"So there's a certain age when its right to freely kill?" Vash jumped up. "NO!! THERE ISN'T!" They both blinked at Vash, and faced each other again.  
  
"No."  
  
"Then what's with the 'Seventeen is too young to kill.' comment?"  
  
"Now, miss, I didn't say that."  
  
"Ok, so you didn't persay, but..."  
  
"I meant something like you've grown up too fast."  
  
"I've...only killed one person...it changes you forever though." Andrea's face darkened. Vash was shocked. "But WHY?!"  
  
Andrea looked at him. "I'm a bounty hunter, dumbass, its my job." Vash sniffed.  
  
Wolfwood forced a hollow laugh. "I knew it." and from nowhere he produced a tiny replica of a church and rammed it onto Andrea's head before she realized what he had done. With her hair, sticking upish style as it was, the bottom of the church reached just above her mouth. "What the hell?!"  
  
"Come on," he said, smiling, "I KNOW you've got something else to confess. Just place the coin in here and--"  
  
"I ain't placing anything anywhere. But I will confess something. You shouldn't have to pay to listen." she sat and pulled Nick down with her.  
  
"Let's see. I'll start from when I was a kid, say,--before I--before I met my father..." she put her hands behind her head and stared through the tiny windows at the real church ceiling.  
  
"I kicked several kids when I was little because they made me spill my water, I bullied a kid seven years older than me, I made my younger brother eat his socks, I threw sand into my third cousin twice removed on my mother's side's face, I'm secretly naieve, my ass is really hurting right now from sitting here, I killed that man whose bounty I was after, I spent my share on better knives and a new pistol, my dad spits coffee on you when he's shocked, I cheated on my homework by forcing my older brother to do it, I threw an apple at my teacher's head three times in fifteen minutes, then I ran away from home and lived off cactus water and lizard jerky til I was thirteen, met my father, evesdropped on his private meetings all too often....."  
  
--an hour later--  
  
"...I waste water, I kind of like you Alex, that tall blue-haired telepathic guy scares me, I used to wear boxers, I bit the head off a live chicken once, I burned my dad's shoes out of curiosity to see what would happen, I shaved my head when I was fifteen because I was bored, that stupid black cat that follows Alex around really pisses me off, I hate paperwork, I got so mad at my homework last year I lined all my textbooks up and shot holes through them, I got suspended from my school eight times, I licked a barbwire fence, I fell out of a tree onto my head at Little Arcadia, I used to eat grass there, I drink mildly, I've never had a hangover, I get sick at least five times a year, I think donuts are disgusting, spegetti confuses me, I'm wearing my special boots with the knife inside both the soles, I believe in the existence of kangaroos, I've seen a flower before, I stared into a plant and saw someone looking back, my house---"  
  
Wolfwood pulled a chunk of hair out. "ALRIGHT! YOU DON'T HAVE TO PAY! JUST BE QUIET! PLEASE!!"  
  
Vash was asleep on the pew and mumbled something. Andrea took the church off. "All that stuff's true you know. I'm usually alot nicer to people but I'm starting to harden, I guess. My life hasn't been very...good. There have been so many times as a kid that I was nearly shot, beaten, starved, dehydrated, strangled, hanged, slapped, and stabbed to death I've lost count. When I was six I ran away from home. My mother was a stupid whore, and she had so many kids that....well....I won't continue. I ran away because I didn't want to be there anymore. Then when I was thirteen my dad found me. Not my real father. But I when I told him I wanted to become a bounty hunter he let me do it. And now...I'm here. I'm really tired right now. I think I'll go home. Thanks for you time, Mr. Priest." Andrea stood up and lightly punched Vash on the head to wake him up. She practicly dragged him out.   
  
"Hey!" Andrea heard a voice behind her, and turned to see Wolfwood running out of the church towards her with the cross. "You wouldn't mind if I stayed with you? I'm all out of money and..."  
  
"Oh save it, Nicholas. I'm generous, but don't lay the butter on me to cheat me out of another bed. You sleep on the couch."  
  
"Praise the Lord! God bless you."  
  
Andrea shook her head, smiling. After an hour with Wolfwood, it was pretty easy to see he wasn't a "normal" priest...in most ways....  
  
******  
  
Yup. Knew it. Writting weird stories/chapters/whatevers IS a disease. Keep them pixie-stix a comin'!! :D~~ 


	6. Andrea's Crush

I'm sick of saying the disclaimer. But I'll do it one-last-time: I DON'T own Trigun, and I'm NOT making money off this. :D Glad I got that off my chest.   
  
PS: It gets kinda...sorta...really cheesey at some point, ok? I apoligize and all that crap and....oh forget it. Just read the dang story.  
  
******  
  
Chapter Six: Andrea's Crush  
  
Background Purposeless People: OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.  
  
*******  
  
Ummm...last chapter, they meet Wolfwood, Andrea drives him up the wall with her many confessions, and ends up with another guy staying with her. Andrea's "crush" on Vash seems to have sprouted a little more than just a leaf....whatever that means. o_o;  
  
******  
  
"WOLFWOOD!" Andrea stormed around the hotel, looking for the priest.   
  
"What's up?" Vash sat in Andrea's room at the table eating donuts and drinking black coffee.  
  
"That stupid.....he saw....he saw me...in the shower.....just in a towel......stared...put his arm around me.....priest my pissed off ass!!" Andrea pulled on her cloak and left her hair down. Vash liked it like that, and after he said so, Andrea just stared at him for a moment, and then left without another word.  
  
***  
  
"Er...Alex? What are you doing?"  
  
"What do you mean, Andrea?"  
  
"That's Fariante to you, moron. What the hell are you doing?"  
  
"Just...hanging around."  
  
"Oh, shut up."  
  
Vash had been knocked out, and tied to the New July town sign by the neighborhood thugs by his ankles.   
  
"Don't worry Alex, I won't let you down. I'll get some help." Andrea ran off.  
  
--Three hours later.--  
  
"SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME!!" Vash was still tied to the sign.  
  
Andrea walked up. "Uh, Miss, could you let me down?" Andrea sighed.   
  
***  
  
Did that give you a good taste of Andrea's new everyday life? o_O; Let's hope so.  
  
(By the way, chapter one is when she's wandering alone in the desert, she's thirteen. Chapter two skips to around this time, when she's 17. Sorry if I didn't make that clear. ^_^;)  
  
***  
  
"Dum dee doo dee, dee dee dee, dee dee doo. Dum dee diddle dee do di, dee doo di, dee do di!" Andrea was a little too happy the next day. Bounty hunting for Vash had been such slow progress she wrote her father that she was giving up the chase. There were so many rumours that at this rate, she would be spending her whole life searching for someone she would probably never find. His answer came back, and he said it was ok. He even said that she could start her own life. This made Andrea very happy. For various reasons. *heheheh....*  
  
"Alex, can you come here for a sec, I wanna talk." Andrea was sitting on the hotel's roof looking up at the dawn. Everyone was already up.  
  
He froze in his tracks, about to go back downstairs for some drinks. Wolfwood lay curled up asleep in a corner of the roof, the stub of a cigarrette still in his mouth.  
  
"Talk? But you never wanna talk. Are you suuuuure?"  
  
"Did I stutter?"  
  
Vash sighed. "No ma'am." he came back over and sat next to her, slightly nervous.  
  
"Oh just relax, pleaaaase? I wanted to tell you that...." she started blushing furiously. Vash blinked, slightly oblivious. It took her a while to get her bearings.  
  
Meanwhile, Legato has another attempt to make Vash destroy something with the Angel Arm.   
  
(Yemmit this is SO random. x_x)  
  
Vash suddenly looked up. "Andrea," he said. There was an unusual urgency in his voice. "What is it?" her head turned quickly and met his fearful eyes. "I need you to wake Wolfwood up and run. Tell everyone in the town to--" he suddenly broke off, trying to restrain something that was obviously paining him. Somewhere like in the arm.  
  
Andrea stayed there, concerned. "Alex, what--" he looked up at her. "RUN!" he said. She ran over to Wolfwood and shook him awake. He didn't need telling when he saw Vash holding his right arm tightly and in so much pain. He stood up quickly, and yanked on Andrea's wrist. "C'mon, woman, we need to get as far away from here as possible." he started to half drag Andrea down the steps when she kicked him sharply in the kneecap. He withdrew. "What the hell are you doing? We have to leave now!"  
  
Andrea stood there. "I'm not leaving him. I don't care. My intuition says something bad's gonna happen but like I said, I don't give a damn." she ran over to Vash.  
  
"Alex I'm staying with you." he looked up at Andrea, pale and shaking. "N-no..." he said. "But Alex I--" he stopped her. "If you're going to call me something," it took great effort for him to speak, "call me Vash." she looked a little shocked but first love is blinding. Andrea put her arms around his back. "Its ok Vash...just breathe...you'll be ok..."   
  
Wolfwood stood, watching, lit a cigarrette and took a drag on it. He puffed out a large bit of smoke and coughed out. "Legato." he said simply, and walked off the roof with the Cross Punisher over his right shoulder.  
  
Neither Andrea nor Vash noticed. "Vash if you're arm's hurting...let it consume you. You'll pass out but holding it back makes it worse."  
  
"Rem," he said simply, and his right arm suddenly started to twist like the growing of a tree suddenly sped up about 1,000 times. It was a horrific gunlike thing now, with an orb of light in the center. Shouts could be heard below as the people ran out of harm's way because of Wolfwood's warnings. Andrea stepped back, gaping. A blinding flash of light consumed them both, as the Angel Arm now aimed to the sky fired out into space.   
  
As the roof began to crumble, Andrea lunched forward and held onto Vash's lower body. The debris exploded out from them and a rock hit her in the head. She knew no more.  
  
*****  
  
Oooooooo. I wanted to get this over with. The story's relatively short, hopefully, and it'll be about ten chapters, if I can handle this right. Any suggestions? Should Andrea wake up in a hospital? Wake up nowhere? Wake up in Vash's arms? All of the above? o_O; (makes that picture of Uncle Sam with the creepy expression on his face pointing at the readers. Author's voice is heard.) I want YOU to decide!! REVIEW OR ELSE. o_o; *coughs* 


	7. Why

Suspense. Something like eight more chapters. Must have more reviews. Getting dry. Errrrghh.....*crawls around* Must...have...water.....x_x;  
  
Awww. *sniffs* its all so....romantic! *cries* And it gets kind of cheesey later soooo....yah....  
  
Note: Switches in and out of Andrea's POV. Noted by the paragraph separation like this:  
  
~*(^)*~  
  
Blah...blah blah...blah blah blah... -----------(Andrea's POV)  
  
x_x_x_x  
  
Blah...blah blah blah blah....again.... -----------(Back to first person narration after the x's and the _'s.)  
  
If you have any trouble reading then I suck. o_O; There seemed to be no other way to write this. It all ended up shitty after I wrote it first, so I rewrote it and it turned out as below. Sowweh in advance! ^^;  
  
*****  
  
Chapter Seven: Why  
  
*****  
  
x_x_x_x  
  
A crowd of people from the nearest town which was only an ile away from New July stood at the rubble which used to be the new city. There was a huge flash of light, a gigantic explosion, and the earth shook as though it were still young and unstable. Some just leaving New July thought it was happening all over again, and swore that the area was forever cursed. They might've not been far from the truth.  
  
The place they were staying was on the very edge of New July. Vash's arm had somehow held back most of the fearsome blast, saving many lives in the proccess.   
  
A few people who had heeded Wolfwood's warnings (which literally were a few.) were telling the people from the next town what had happened. Some survivors were just being unearthed by searchers or still buried alive, calling out in the pain from injuries which had inflicted them. A gigantic pile of debris lay silently where the inn once stood proudly. There had been at least four stories.   
  
A ray of sunlight gaped through a hole in the cavelike structure which a miracle had created saving the lives of Vash and Andrea. It drifted across her blood-stained face and warmed it, waking her roughly.  
  
~*(^)*~  
  
'God where am I?'  
  
I lifted my sore head, rubbing it. I kept my eyes shut tight, with many sharp pains all over my body. When my hand brushed over my face, there was a warm sticky substance present on my skin's surface. It took me a little while to realize what it was.  
  
'Blood...?'  
  
My head was throbbing and my mind's gears worked slowly. I slurred out two thick-strung words.  
  
"Whaat...haappenedd...."  
  
I forced the words out of my mouth. My tounge didn't seem to want to work right, and lolled uselessly over my teeth.  
  
After resting I decided to look around a bit, remember where I was, what happened, and most importantly, WHO I was. Everything slowly came back; first at a thick sluggish pace, and then it all hit me so hard I almost fell over again. In fact I did, and felt someone against me. I didn't really care at the moment. I just wanted to find Alex for some weird reason.   
  
'Wait...not Alex....'  
  
The latest memories were harder to catch. I tried to relax, and rack my brains without too much concentration. If you tried to remember something, it makes it impossible to find in your head. Especially when its scratched, bumped, bleeding and painfully throbbing.  
  
I suddenly croaked out the least expected name.   
  
"VASH!!"  
  
The feeling of someone brushing against me came back and I looked to see who it had been. I saw Alex...no...Vash's leg.   
  
Vision was very blurry. I blinked, trying to focus in the dimming light. It was extremely cramped.  
  
'How can I love someone who--'  
  
I heard a groan in Vash's direction and turned, and saw him sitting up and rubbing his head. Tears filled my eyes. I didn't care what or who he was, I just remembered Alex and that I liked him. I liked him ALOT. And when I wasn't able to contain it any longer, I threw myself into his arms, sobbing. Going through that....I needed anyone I trusted to be around and hold me.   
  
Suddenly I wasn't seventeen anymore. I was about six.  
  
"Vash!"  
  
"Andrea?!"  
  
x_x_x_x  
  
Andrea jumped onto Vash, and clung to his upper body like a small child to a father. Getting over the shock of seeing this tough woman suddenly act over ten years younger, he held her in a long embrace, until her tears were spent.  
  
"Andrea..."  
  
"I'm sorry...Vash..." she leaned back against the wall of debris and whiped her burning forehead. Vash seemed taken a little aback by Andrea suddenly calling him his "real" name, but he quickly got over it. "No." he said seriously. "Its my fault. People have probably died. Its all my fault. Like twenty-three years ago....."  
  
Vash began pouring out his whole history to Andrea, like she was a plant herself that just came out of a bulb and wanted to know the whole story of the twins.  
  
Rem.........Steve.......the planet......spiders and butterflies.......Knives.....everything.  
  
Andrea sat listening for what seemed like many eternities. When he was done, she still sat silently.  
  
Finally Vash broke the uncomfortable silence. "You must think I'm a monster...or I'm crazy...don't you?" he looked up at her with pleading, sorrowful eyes. Andrea stared back. Though weird as "Alex" was, he never lied, unlike Wolfwood. And everything was so crazy that no one could think up a lie like that. So it had to be true, didn't it?  
  
"No." she said matter-of-factly. "In fact, I believe you." she took his hands. "Vash I'm sorry I've been so bitchy. That's how I am. Its all a mask. I made it so I could find out where I belong, maybe understand why my life happened at all. This sounds really stupid. But I think I'm in love with you," she let go of his hands and leaned over.   
  
Andrea circled her arms around Vash's neck and kissed him passionately on the lips. Stood. He looked up at her as though he had never seen anything quite like her.  
  
She walked mechanically over to the hole that let in the sunlight and stuck her arm though it, waving it around and moving debris carefully out of the way. Finally there was enough space to get her torso through, and Andrea went up and called out to the searchers. They heard her, and told her they were coming as fast as possible.   
  
~*(^)*~  
  
'Why did I do that?' I sat just below the hole periodically answering the searchmans' calls. I was too tired to dig a better hole, and if I had done much more our small hiding place would've caved in. It was a little under five feet high, and I was almost six.  
  
I had my back turned to Vash. I couldn't overcome that strange feeling that only comes along once in a lifetime, if not more. And then, it has to be true. Most of the time its a mockery of this feeling and its all a lie. But I knew I loved him. There was no denying it. The only thing was....he was an outlaw with an inhumanly large bounty on his head. I knew the rest.  
  
*fourty-five minutes later*  
  
"Hello? Anyone still there??" the searchman's rusty voice croaked out. "YES!!" I said, jumping up through the hole and suprising the crap out of him. "AHH!" he almost fell back. "Sorry sir. Umm..me and my friend are stuck down here. Can you help us?"  
  
"O' course. Be back in just a sec."  
  
Sooner or later we got out. I was kind of dazed, and no matter how many times Vash tried to talk to me I didn't answer. I just couldn't talk to him. My throat didn't seem to want to work right.  
  
"Andrea please talk to me."  
  
I was silent.  
  
"Andrea?"  
  
I managed to choke out some kind of weird squeaky noise.  
  
"Please...just...talk with me."  
  
I made a louder squeak. It sounded like "ok, I'm listening."  
  
We walked over to a bench a few minutes later. He looked at me with those wise, green-grey-blue, sad, puppy, loving, fierce eyes. I hated that look. I turned away.  
  
"Andrea I'm so sorry." he sounded like he meant it. I turned back, and then looked to my feet. "Don't apol--no. I can't say its your fault, and I can't say it isn't. You beat yourself up too much. You say its your fault. Did you conciously kill those people? Did you ever have any purpose in killing someone? No. You never wanted to. It wasn't your doing. You tried to stop it all and you couldn't. I think...I think Rem would be very proud. YOU didn't pull the trigger. Its like saying "someone stole your knife and brutally killed your best friend." it wasn't your doing. Just let it go. Break free of Rem's spell, Vash. Listen to yourself and tell me what you hear."   
  
He stared at me again, suprised that I would speak about his "mother" that way. I looked hard at him. "I understand. But you have to think freely. You'll always be ruled by what you think Rem would do. You're still a child. And Knives....Knives grew up all too fast." I couldn't stand it anymore. I stood up and ran, ran out of the square, the remains of the town, and back into the desert. I hid from him. I did not want to face his sorrow.  
  
***  
  
*sniffles* so cheesey and so sad...and romantic.....please review...or flame...*sniffs* 


	8. Headed Towards Nowhere

Updated! AGAIN! I'm like butta, I'm on a roll!!  
  
*duh-dum CH*  
  
Kind of a sad chapter, switches again, except not on people's POV's. Its more like....the scenes switch, from Vash to Andrea, to her father, visa versa. The last chapter, unless reviewers say otherwise. Kind of a cliffhanger, but that's like the Trigun series, right? Mmmm compliment....  
  
Reminder: "Matthew" is Andrea's "father", from the beginning of the story. Oh yeah and this song that Andrea sings is part of a poem I've written. Just tellin ya! ^^;  
  
*****  
  
Chapter Eight: Headed Towards Nowhere  
  
***  
  
"Soooo...here we go again far away from home. Nowhere else to go but despair. Haven't a clue to my path, great sorrow lies ahead; I know...." Andrea's boots made temporary footprints in the sand. The rough winds quickly washed them away like water. Andrea headed towards nothing, and saw not to where she herself belonged within the world. The girl was compelled to walk, to nowhere maybe, but at least it was something to do. Her whole state of mind was restless.  
  
"Maaaaaybe I'll find a way; find a way to deceive the Fortune's Wheel, spinning against my existence. The only thing I wish to do is hope and wait, wait for dawn to come."  
  
She stopped at various towns to get food and shelter during a typhoon or just for extra rest. This continued on for a long, long time.  
  
*********************************************  
  
Vash sighed and packed his few belongings into his bag, and slung it over his shoulder.  
  
The soft breeze ruffled his coat making the only sound for many iles. He slowly exited the ruins of New July, abandoned after much excavation work had been done to recover people's special belongings that were left and to find those buried alive.  
  
Vash headed towards where he thought Andrea had gone, wondering to himself why he was trying to follow her. That girl wore a mask, like him, but she was so unlike all the other humans he'd met. A special person like that couldn't be forsaken, it was almost a crime in the Typhoon's eyes.  
  
*************************************************  
  
Matthew set his papers on his desk, picked them up again and straightened them out, again putting them in a pile on his desk. He lay his head in his hands, leaning on his elbows, and sighed. He spoke to a man sitting in front of him in a wooden chair, who was looking at Matthew thoughtfully.  
  
"I haven't heard from her in almost a year."  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"Its hard. I have to let go, but not knowing whether she's dead or alive eats my concience up like the Stampede on donuts."  
  
"You think she was....killed...in the process of tracking him down?"  
  
"No. Her last letter told me she would start her own life in New July, so she gave up looking for him, and I knew it was her time to leave home and set up shop for her own future. I got a card back saying she had gotten the letter but nothing else, probably she was very busy..."  
  
"Matthew....did you hear the news on the sattilite?"  
  
".....Yes. It happened again, on the cursed grounds of July City, New July was destroyed. Some say it was Vash. I hate to think that she got buried alive or hit on the head with debris, and even if she was dead at least I would know she was gone from this living hell."  
  
The man stood up, picking up his own papers from his desk and putting them under his arm.  
  
"I....I'd better go."  
  
"...I'll see you next week then. And Andrew?"  
  
"...yes?"  
  
"I'm sorry for you too. I know you liked her alot. If...if you two had had the chance, I would have approved...just to let you know."  
  
".....Thank you sir. Good-bye."  
  
"Farewell."  
  
Andrew left Matt's office and shut the door. It was a dark sunset, and the ceiling fan circled its usual path. There was the quiet, heavy silence that seems to scream loudly through our hearts, and now it rang through the room.  
  
Matthew shuffled through a different stack of papers and put on his glasses, picked up a pen, and began to write to ease his greif and worry.  
  
**************************************************  
  
THE END. Unless reviewers say so! Thanks for your time. ^-^  
  
  
  
~*Lady Bluesummers*~ 


	9. Hello Wolfie!

Yeah! Even one or two reviews is good enough. I've decided to keep going, and shed a more happy light on this group of people. Reading depressing stories doesn't work that well for me (let me tell you I haven't read anything from "A Series of Unfortunate Events") so I guess I need to write "happier" things and promote a better outlook on life through writting. o_O; I'm getting smarter! Creepy, isn't it? This chapter takes a sharp turn towards uh....more "niceness". Let's just hope its not too sharp and I don't kill myself. ~_^ --Lady Bluesummers  
  
*******  
  
Chapter Nine: Hello Wolfie!!   
  
**********  
  
Andrea stopped at a pub in some town FAR away from Ruined-New July. She wasn't sad at all, despite all she had been through. She was very happy being a drifter and once in a while taking down a bounty anonymously just for need of income, not because that was what her "work" was. She would write her father and tell him so. Bounty hunting was so much easier this way. Andrea smiled at everyone and ordered black coffee. (For the life of me I have no idea where they would get coffee beans on Gunsmoke, but hey, why not? XD)  
  
"Thanks Karl, I'll come back later!" she waved her hand to the new barkeep who happened to be one of her friends. She liked this town and decided to stay there for a while. It was peaceful, and not much happened. But the people were really nice, the kids always looked forward to seeing Andrea, and she was staying with the nicest family. It was almost perfect, had there not been one broom-shaped hole in her heart that hadn't been replaced yet. "Vash," she mumbled taking her share of groceries upstairs to the family's spare room. She sighed. "No point. I lost him on my own concience, and I can't blame myself, but I can't blame him either. Damn blame-game. I swear, being human stinks.....human nature....errrghh...I'm starving..." oO; Before us, we see a CHANGED MIND. O_O   
  
***  
  
"MISS ANDREA!! HURRY UP! WE WANNA START!!"  
  
"I'LL BE DOWN IN A MINUTE!! JUST LEMMIE EAT BREAKFAST, OK?"  
  
"OK!"  
  
"....."  
  
"MISS ANDREA?"  
  
"WHAT?"  
  
"BUT YOU CAN EAT IT DOWN HERE WITH US!!"  
  
"REALLY?"  
  
"REALLY!"  
  
"REALLY REALLY?"  
  
"REALLY REALLY!!"  
  
"REALLY REALLY REALLY?!"  
  
"AWWW, MISS ANDREA!!"  
  
"ALRIGHT, I'M COMING!!"  
  
Andrea bolted down the rest of her toast and scrambled downstairs to meet the neighborhood kids. They all tackled her at once, sending her flying almost into the wall, but definitly to the ground. "GAHHH!! YOU GUYS!! NOOO NOT MY KNIVES! THEY'RE POINTY! THEY MIGHT HURT YOU!!" the immediately put her belt of knives in the family's mailbox (the house where she was staying) and tackled her more. By instinct she successfully pushed them all off and started running for the bench in the side and grabbed a newspaper. The kids wandered up to her. She held it above her face.   
  
The "leader" poked Andrea's knee. "Excuse me, umm...adult person? Have you seen Miss Andrea lately?" the kids failed to hide their sniggers. Andrea put on her throaty old-man's voice which was REALLY fake. "Well...I'd have to say that she's right....HERE!! BOOGA BOOGA BOOGA!!" Andrea literally jumped from behind the newspaper and scared the living hell out of the children. "AHHH!!" they all scattered and fell back, laughing. Andrea fell over laughing too. An irregular shadow belonging to a man carrying a large cross wrapped in canvas and bound in belts stepped up to Andrea, who was still laughing and painfully gripping her side. "You sure handle the kids well, don't you?" Andrea looked up.  
  
"Why....hello Wolfie!!" her gale of laughter caught her lungs again and she curled into a ball laughing so hard she was almost in pain. Wolfwood's eyebrow twitched above the top edge of his sunglasses. "Please don't call me that."  
  
"Yeah, hehehehe...whatever you say...WOLFIE."  
  
"Stop it!!"  
  
Andrea stood up. The kids stood behind her, wondering who the strange man was. One spoke up, and walked to Wolfwood and started tugging on the bottom of his shirt.   
  
"Excuse me mister?" the child looked up all cute and adorable. 'Wolfie' bent down and looked face to face with the kid. "What is it?" he said, smiling.  
  
"Well," the child said, still looking cute and adorable. "Your nose is funny."  
  
Someone standing just inside a building would have thought the kids were screaming bloody murder, had the laughter not been audible. They all laughed and fell over again, followed by Andrea who had been waiting to get that out since she had first met the priest. But there was that damned barrier of the unwritten rules of social "politeness". Living with Vash for a while and with the kids longer, her being was caged no longer by the "civil peoples of the world's" steel bars of common manners. Poor Wolfwood blinked, and sat there still bent down. Andrea finally stopped laughing and hugged him around the neck.  
  
"What brings you here, Mr. Wolfwood? Last time I saw you was the last time...." she stopped short, still holding onto the priest's neck.   
  
He stood up but she held on. "The last time you saw the Broom-Head? Yeah, he's alive all right, but he's really worried over you. I can't believe you're putting him through that. Honestly I don't think you know where he is, so I don't really blame you, but I think you've seen each other, and you've avoided him. Just give the poor idiot a break, ok?" he patted her back. Andrea's form heaved and shuddered from silent weeping on Wolfwood's shoulder. She looked up at him. "Thanks," she said smiling.  
  
"I needed that."  
  
************  
  
YAY! A happier ending! That feels better, don't ya think? ^^ I think I'm actually getting somewhere with this. Mwahahaha!! Review and tell me what you think, my poor brain's open to any suggestions, even flames, of course if there's a flame I'll just find your story and review it with a flame just for spite. Nah, I'm not that kind of person. xD This author's too good for that!! 8P Cal-q-Later.*runs* 


	10. Silent Revelations and Loud Reunions

Chapter Ten: Silent Revelations and Loud Reunions  
  
***  
  
"So, how many are with ya?"  
  
"Just me and him."  
  
"Alright, that'll be 260 double-dollars please. The extra sixty is for that cross thing."  
  
"TWO HUNDRED SIXTY? Oh ok. Hold on a moment." Andrea handed the driver the amount of money due.  
  
"Ok, ok get on, we've got more people waiting."  
  
Andrea paid for a bus trip to the town of Old Rock. Wolfwood had talked her into finding Vash, and also paying the fare for both of their admittence.  
  
They sat near the back. Andrea had a windowseat and looked out as about seven strong men hauled the priest's Cross Punisher on top of the bus. The driver made them pay extra. "Wolfwood you owe me, ok? You owe me....one hundred and sixty double-dollars, in cash. Unless of course you save my life, then you won't owe me a dime."   
  
Nick lit a cigarette he had just put in his mouth. "So you're saying you're only worth 160?" Andrea let out a hollow laugh. "Yeah, and Vash's life is worth $$60,000,000,000."  
  
"You'd be suprised."  
  
***Four hours later.***  
  
{Andrea's POV:}  
  
The bus hit a sudden bump and I jolted awake. I had fallen asleep on Wolfwood's shoulder, who had also fallen asleep; yet he remained silent with closed eyes.  
  
The bus was still moving, and the few people on with us were either yawning or sleeping. I looked out across the moving landscape and to the moons which all were full. They cast a dull light that made all the sand around us shine like silver. I thought about Vash. I was so stupid, so hot-headed. But I was only 18, now I'm almost 19 and somehow I've changed, but I can't figure out when it happened. I held my head in confusion, brooding and dwelling on things that had happened to me in the past.  
  
Me as five. I was still living with my "mother" who if you've forgotten, was a dirty whore. It still burns my head to think about it. Even to think the word opens my memories' floodgates and cause that sorry portion of my life to overtake my mind's eye and ear.  
  
----Flashback----  
  
"Mom, can I go out and stay with Leon?" a small girl in baggy boy's clothes with hair tied back loosely came into her mother's room. Her mother was in bed with another man. She stood up lazily and stalked over to her daughter.  
  
"Mom" pushed the girl out of her room in nothing but a long men's shirt down to just above her knees. She had a cigarette in her hand, and everything on her was dirty except for her skin and her hair, which were the only things she actually took care of, and those things were: 1.wet, and 2.ruffled.  
  
"Again?" she coughed wheezily, her voice deep and throaty from many decades of smoking. "Yeah, alright. Since you don't care bout your mother, go ahead, go on, leave me here and let me DIE for all you care. With all the outlaws in this place I'll probably be shot. So go, I've got your father Mike to satisfy ME." the woman kicked the girl several times in the gut, slamming her against the wall. "Don't ever interupt me again. I've got a busy schedule to keep." she slammed the door and went back to her livelihood which was much frowned apoun in the community.  
  
The young girl cried, out of lonliness and guilt. A five-year-old didn't know what to think. Another kid came into the room, blonde with brown eyes. He was one of her mother's childeren that she had produced through one of her "jobs". It was Deren, one of the girl's half-brothers. He looked down at her with slight mix of pity and annoyance. "Buck up, what did she say to you this time?" he bent down and shook the girl's shoulder slightly. He was easily ten years older than she was, around fifteen.   
  
She sniffed, looked up, and made a ferocious effort to stop crying, but only bringing more shuddering gasps to her throat. It was almost impossible to stop. Deren sighed exasperatedly, and sat next to his half-sister. "Yeah, big brothers suck, don't they? I'm a jerk. So what? Get over that wench beating you. I did a long time ago. It hurts to know that you came from that thing, just know that I think you're much better than she is. Go ahead and stay with Leon, I'm staying with him too. All of us are except Laney, Andy, Scott, and Rich. They're staying here. Hard-headed bastards." Deren put his arm around her. Her weeping stopped, and she rubbed her stomach.   
  
"It hurts, Brother, it hurts real bad." she looked down not knowing what else to say. Her brother picked her up and put her on his shoulder, in piggy-back mode.   
  
"I know. C'mon, let's go see Leon. I'm sure he's got something for us. I heard he wanted to teach you how to fire a gun. Niiiice."  
  
"Ok Deren."  
  
When I was six, the next year, I ran. I couldn't take it anymore. Everyone always said I was mature for my age. I never knew what they meant, but for seven years I made my way across the desert. Seven years exactly...I ran on sixth birthday and Matthew found me on my thirteenth birthday. Who says 13 is an unlucky number?  
  
----End Flashback----  
  
The bus kept jostling us around and I couldn't go back to sleep, no matter how hard I tried. Memories of my past kept thrashing forward in their fierce attempts to haunt me. And it worked. I gave up, and rested my chin in my tired hand, still looking out into the ever-shifting sea of powdered silver and deep-violet shadows.  
  
***The next morning.***  
  
"Wake up, we gotta get off." Wolfwood pulled at my arm. He was already standing up in the bus. We were in the town of Old Rock. He had the cigarette from last night in his mouth still and his glasses plastered once again to his head. I figured he must've taken the thing out during the night while I was asleep. I stood, stretched, and yawned. We got out and I got my bag and slung it over my back, and as usual, Nick had his Cross in tow.   
  
The bus left. My eyes were still heavy with sleep and every time I blinked out of habit to focus, they went blurry again. I sheilded my dialating eyes from the bright sunlight. My pocketwatch from Dad said it was about noon. I looked at Wolfwood. "Well," I said, "it was your idea. Now where are we going to go? I don't think he would stay in one place that long." Wolfwood lit his cigarette again after several failing attempts and sighed. "Oh, he'll be here. Just look over there." he pointed towards the street with a bunch of shops lined up together. I saw a rusted sign that was a donut with the words "Grand ReOpening. All-You-Can-Eat Donut Special!" I laughed. Well duh! Of course Vash would be here. He wouldn't miss this for anything. Well, except mabye world peace, the rehabilitated Knives, or seeing Rem alive again. But none of those things were possible. So this had to be it. I yelled out "what are we waiting for?" and darted off towards the donut shop leaving Wolfwood in the dust. He came after me.  
  
***Inside the donut shop.***  
  
I finally stopped, making Wolfwood nearly crash into me. The dust skidded up around us and I coughed, opening the shop door.  
  
A bell tinkled signalling our somewhat dramatic arrival. A tall bony girl with long straight brown hair with throwing knives on her belt, followed by a taller man in all black with a huge cross wrapped up in canvas and black belts bursting through the door amidst a cloud of smoky dust is kind of a shock in a town known to have outlaws not afraid to kill. Everyone stared. We both held up our hands. "We just want donuts!" I said innocently. Everyone still stared.   
  
It was completely silent. I scanned the room for the broom-hair, in vain. Wolfwood walked up to the counter, and put his cross down with a slightly loud THUD. It seemed louder due to the lack of any other sound in the room. I cringed, and stood behind him. Several people near the door inched closer to it. Nick put some money on the counter which was enough for the All-You-Can-Eat Special, and made his way to the donut buffet. I laughed weakly and did the same. I whispered to Wolfwood. "Everyone's watching us. What the hell is up with them?" he shook his head and after getting whatever he was looking for, which was a single powdered donut, sat down at a vacant table. I got a single buttermilk, and sat across from him. The tension was making me...well, tense.   
  
Fifteen minutes passed. I slammed my glass down and stood up, making a few people gasp. "What the HELL is wrong with you people? My friend and I are just normal travelers and we're hungry! Can't I carry knives around? I'm a bounty-hunter for goodness sakes, give us a break! I just wanna eat my donut in peace, darnit! And STOP STARING." I looked around at the astonished faces of the donut-shop patrons. Suddenly everyone turned back to their meals and talked again, slightly hushed. I sat and tried to eat my food. Wolfwood stared at me. "Hello Miss Sunshine, you have the most WONDERFUL people skills."  
  
"Even if there WAS a commandment for "Thou shalt not smoke." you wouldn't follow it, Priest Man."  
  
"Cold, Andy, coooold."  
  
"Andy?!" I started to stare at Wolfwood a little.  
  
He shrugged. "I like that name better on you. You looked like you saw a ghost when I said it though..."  
  
I shrugged back, but instead of a "whatever" shrug I was trying to cover up the icy feeling inside. "Just...it just reminded me of the past, that's all. But I'm ok." I forced a smile and continued on my donut.  
  
***  
  
After several more minutes of silence on our part, much more staring from our peers, and a slightly fearful look from the manager, we left the donut parlor in failiure.  
  
Wolfwood sighed. "Needle-Noggin," he said, "you told me you'd be here." he set his cross down and sat on the bench and after lighting a cigarrette, took a long drag on it. I sat on the other side of the bench. "Well several days of my life wasted. I was going good, Nick, why'd you take me away from the kids and my home? I protected them from constant gangs, they could all be dead by now!" I sighed. I learned that hot-headed hysterics never got you through anything, except maybe getting married to someone you don't want to and the other family calls it off because they think you're a crazy lunatic.   
  
Wolfwood looked up, then at me. "Go ahead, go back. But I promised that idiot I'd bring you back here." he looked ahead again, with his shades on, and I couldn't tell where his gaze fell.   
  
I looked around. I seemed to keep seeing a gold flash of something, wherever I looked, almost as though someone was trying to spy on us and evade our sight. Whoever it was, sucked at it bigtime. I nudged Wolfwood. He nodded. Apparently he was watching the person too.   
  
Wolfwood twitched, as if about to do something, when I held him back by the shoulder, and shook my head. I placed my hand on one of my knives, and when I saw someone tiptoe-ing across the alley I threw it, then several others, pinning them against the wall by their shirt. Wolfwood blinked, and I let out a plastered-to-my-face cocky sort of smile.  
  
"Come on, Nicky, I think we got him." I strode over to who ever it was pinned to the wall. And by that time, he had almost made it out, attempting to rip his shirt. He looked up at me, the long blonde hair falling out of his face. I stared Vash hard in the face. "Alex you bastard! Why did you leave me?! I know you can run faster than that. I didn't think I'd loose you!" He stared more at me. As my eyes began to grow hot and watery, I tried to read his expression but it was impossible. I knew he could read my face like an open book. "Read away," I said quietly and suddenly clung to his neck, further pinning him to the wall. Wolfwood laughed a "I-told-you-so-she-loves-him." laugh, and took another drag. I didn't notice.   
  
Vash suddenly laid his hands on my shoulders, and pushed me away gently. "Guess what?" he said.  
  
"What?" tears flowed freely.  
  
"Love..."  
  
"Love?"  
  
"Love and PEACE!!"  
  
SMACK!   
  
"AHHH YOU ARE A BASTARD! YOU SAID THAT RIGHT IN MY EAR! AAAAGGGHHHHHH!! IT HURTS NOW!"  
  
"AWWW, YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO SMACK ME!"  
  
"YES I DID, NEEDLE-NOGGIN!"  
  
"WOOOOLFWOOOOOOD! WHY DID YOU TELL HEERRRRRRR?!"  
  
"Hehehehe...."  
  
************  
  
That was good. VERY good. o.o I have no idea what I'm saying, and if you do, you have my deepest sympathy. Maybe cause it was a good chapter, or because I'm eating pizza right now, or both! ^o^ This is going somewhere, finally. If the reviews go good, which they usually do, I'm going to stick the next chapter up soon. It'll be shorter, later on, and...near the end. As much as I love this story, writting it, and hearing from you guys, I want to finish it and work on other projects. I'm just so tied-up right now its disgusting, with sitework, little or no computer-time, and a brother that WON'T STOP KICKING ME OFF....o_o;;.........and a low-inspiration level, its coming slow. But its coming! Soon! ER! So um...sit back and wait for the next chapter. To keep you satisfied, I'm putting up a Knives one-shot. Have fun! ;)  
  
--Lady Bluesummers 


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